And upon conviction he received a stern look from the judge on his way out of the courtroom.

Good on ya mate! Working people HATE thieves and appreciate honest businesses!

My company produces a fair amount of scrap sheet metal and box tube. We used to have a big dumpster outside that we'd put it in (we've since switched to smaller carts inside the plant). It started disappearing regularly and it was costing us thousands of dollars in scrap, and I took it upon myself to install a security camera overlooking the dumpster (I'm the IT guy) through a window. I caught them a couple nights later. They pulled up, one of them tried to obscure the camera by squeezing a ketchup packet on the window, but they didn't get enough on there, so I could see them pulling their pickup next to the dumpster in full view. They filled up their pickup until the back bumper was almost on the ground. Now comes the good part. Someone was actually in the building that night and called 911 to report the theft. We talked to a lieutenant a few days later, and he told me to my face that his patrol officer showed up but nobody was there. I then showed him the video footage of his patrol officer pulling into the parking lot, and letting the thieves drive away. He just parked there for about 5 minutes and didn't follow. Said lieutenant went red in the face and I told him his patrol officer was a liar. I gave him a copy of the video and he left. Our shop foreman and I went to the big scrapyards in the area, and we eventually found our scrap (we have very unique sheet metal patterns, easy to identify). The guys at the yard had their vehicle info and drivers license, but they couldn't give it to us. As we pulled back into the parking lot at the plant, there were two officers "investigating" the theft. I flat out told them that we did their jobs for them, all they needed to do was go to that scrapyard and get the info on the thieves. They were eventually arrested and did some jail time. In your case, I suspect the police weren't having trouble finding leads, they just didn't care and waited until somebody else did their work for them.

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽good job my brother, good job. The world is in short supply of people with good morals and integrity.

At last. Someone who understands the consequent of theft

I know some scrap yards look the other way, so thank you for being one of the good guys.

Unfortunate that you have to deal with this but glad that you're being responsible. Your efforts are good for the community and help our reputation as scrappers and recyclers.

I despise thieves and helped to identify one a couple of years ago. My brother ended up in jail on a warrant due to this, but collateral damage happens. So, here's the background: my wife was about to close on an investment property when my brother called out of nowhere (we hadn't spoken in months) crying about losing the place he was staying at and sleeping on the sidewalk the previous night. He's really good at various renovation projects, so the wife and I discussed letting him stay at the property for a month or two and doing the roofing, siding, windows, and interior work. The work dragged on, though, and after a few months strangers were coming and going, with some seeming to stay there. After another month or two, enough was enough. We knew that the situation was methed up, and increasing amounts of scrap and odds and ends were being stored there, so we told my brother that his "friends" had a week to clear out what they wanted and that we were junking the rest. At the same time, a couple of guys were fitting an 8' Super Duty bed to an F-450 that originally had a 10-12' flatbed. The following week, the truck and a lot of scrap was gone, but not the three or four salvage bins with a company's number on them. We called the company to get their bins and found out they'd been on the back of an F-450 that had been stolen from their yard a few weeks prior, crashing through the gate at 2am. I made it a goal to find the truck and tracked it down to a trailer park, but the county police could do little other than ask management to have it towed for not having a permit. By then, all the decals had been removed, the truck had a rattle can paint job, and it was beat all to hell. I disengaged myself after that. The salvage yard got the info I had, including where it had been towed to, but the towing service kept trying to tell me I had to pay the fee to get "my truck" when I attempted to let them know it was stolen. Poor communication, or they just didn't care, I have no idea. Whatever happened from there is between the tow yard, salvage yard, law enforcement, and whatever insurance company. It's one thing to steal supplies and sell them as scrap. It's quite another to steal a truck from the scrap yard to haul stolen scrap to other yards! 🤨🤨

Thank you for the help catching the bad guy a lot of scrp yards won't

From a small time scraper in Ontario Canada i thank you for doing this

Good work dude. Thieves piss me off.

People like you make the world a better place. Great work, be proud and keep it up!

You're quite the talented story-teller. Seriously. Salute for being valiant against thievery.

You are unusual for a scrap dealer in my experience. Most are only too happy to knowingly buy stolen material. I had an incident a few years ago when I was running an engineering company. We had had a problem with aluminum castings disappearing. One lunch time I saw an employee driving out the gate and his car looked heavy in the rear, I was suspicious so I drove down the road to a scrap dealer which was in the direction he turned. When I arrived, I found our castings next to the scale already weighed and the dealer was busy paying him in cash. I called the cops, but the one who arrived was his buddy and dragged me out the door. I laid a charge, but was told that the cop 'saw nothing' Fired the employee, but that's all I could do. Employee took us to court for unfair dismal, but lost.

Who would have thought, a dishonest thief 😂

I think most yards are good like you guys and will not purposefully buy stolen goods. Most of us scrappers do not like dealing with shady people or shady yards.

You guys are awesome! No way to stop these thieves without businessmen like you.

Finally a good junk dealer

Nice to know there are still honest people/businesses out there who do the right thing!

I am an HVAC tech and one of the churches that we used to service had all of their units stripped clean a few years ago. It cost the church over $30k too replace what was stolen. The cops found the guy in a motel about 1/2 mile from the church because the cleaning lady saw all this scrap in the room and her manager called the cops. The DA called us and asked how much the "Scrap value" was. He didn't care how much it cost to REPLACE the units, he just wanted the scrap value. We told him it was between $300-$600 in scrap. We really had NO IDEA what it would actually bring because we have a scrap man that we give our scrap to. The guy was prosecuted for $300 of theft. He got probation.

Retired from the steel industry and for thirty years saw the companies had rebar stolen and scrapped. One time truckloads (#48,000) went from the mill to the recycler. The scrapyard took photos of the semis, called the company and found out it was the two grown sons of the owner.

You caring that much is admirable.

Thank you for being an honest business.

Good to hear there are still some with integrity. Well done, keep doing what you’re doing.

I am so glad that you guys went the extra mile and relied on your gut that this was a sketchy guy. Thanks so much for your service.i

this guy should be a TV reporter...he gave a concise report on the incident...I understood all of the story...good job👍

my scrapyard photographs every load that comes onto the scale . and at the non-ferrous scale they photograph the material AND the seller . my loads are clean and legit . . . every time . and because I have done that for about 35 years , i get top dollar every time . i make too much money on scrap to screw that up .

Thank you so much for being an honest person. Also grateful that the police were willing to work to prosecute the guy. This brings hope back!

Nice to see a man of principles and good morals! You have brought great honor to you and your family! May GOD bless you, your family and your business.

Scrap yards are usually the criminals, unfortunately. If all scrap yards would refuse stolen materials, stealing with the intent on scraping for cash stops instantly. Spread the word

Thanks for going out of your way and spending time and energy to assist. As members of a community we need to band together and make sure we do not let guys like this get away with crimes like this.

I commend you for your actions to help prosecute thieves and possibly prevent many other thefts. Keep up the good work and thank you.

Integrity in business is rare these days. You guys are setting the standard, & a good example of what it means to be hard working, homest Americans. Cheers, & God Bless y'all!

Thank you for your video and for cooperating with the local business and law enforcement. These Bad Actors need to sit in Jail until they figure things out. 🤪

It's good to know that people like you are out there. Thank you!

You guys went far above and beyond you duty. Salute!

good to know there are honest people still out there, thanks.

When I brought anything that was not steel in, the local scrap yard in California would copy my license and not pay me for 3 days.

Good for you, I'm so tired of everybody running their scams and games it's about time these people pay the price

My great uncle ran a scrap yard in upstate NY. This video brought back some good memories,…Glad to see integrity in the industry!

As a former Mechanical Contractor - I thank You ! We bought no materials or tools from Individuals. My concern was those who we bought items from would someday be selling our material and tools to others. A Vicious circle !

Finally, someone doing the right & decent thing!! You have made my day!!

Very nice to see a stand-up person! Thanks!

The country needs more men like you, sir. Outstanding integrity

This is awesome- a scrap dealer with ethics! Too many scrap dealers simply don't care about buying stolen materials.

Thanks so much for being a great citizen.

Thx Bro we need more honest ppl/ businesses like you to fight the rampant theft in our communities 👍.

Good to know scrapyards are out there keeping an eye out for suspicious sellers. Thank you, and job well done.

Outstanding! Its good to know there are still people that do the right thing. I despise thieves almost as much as the judges that keep them on the street. Great job.

Thank you for your honest business practices.

Hey, I've got no idea how I ended up down this wormhole, but a good story. Well done. Respect from the UK.

Congratulations Sir. You are truly a credit to your profession!

Its always annoying when im in line at the scrap yard with a load and mabey a little bit of copper. While a couple dope heads are in front of me with two catalytic converters and a sawzaw in a back pack.

Very good on you sir, people always trying to take the easy route , lie, cheat and steal , never caring about others, makes life so much harder for everyone else, in short , Thank you for doing what’s right!

You guys have been a great resource in funding my crippling methamphetamine addiction. Thanks

Great Job 👍🏻

You SIR are a good man. Keep up the good work!!

Great job, thanks for sharing!!!

I worked with a few guys thay would steal scrap from our jobs and take them tp the same scrap yard our company used. We had bonuses tied to scrapping every months. Sometimes up to 800 a month extra for everyone. Eventually i became a site superintendent and had the yard mgr call me whenever the individuals csme there with scrap. We figured out exactly what and wjere they were taking, got in on camera amd successfully prosecuted. Felt good to get big bonuses for the guys again.

Well done! it's a pity there are not more dealers like you, Michael.

Hats off to you, sir. An honest businessman doing the right thing is always good to see. I just wish the courts would punish the offenders in a way that would actually deter them from re-offending, a slap on the wrist means nothing.

You operate an honest business. You have a family. You have reputation for being a good guy. Who wants to ruin that for a few bucks?

Good on you guys.

awesome job, ty 4 ur honesty,

Keep tryinng! My dad owned a used auto parts in Detroit all my life. I know your business is difficult and wish you all the best!

Wow that's really excellent! Nice that there are good-guys out there who try and help out and always do the right thing. Good for you dude! Or like they'd say in Aussie, Good on ya' Mate!!

Awesome! I wish there were more like you! Thank you for your efforts and being honest!

Good work Michael.

If its got value it's amazing what people will do for some $$$ 30 some years ago a local scrap yard here in Milwaukee which is no longer in business was actually scammed by a yard manager who shaved tonnage off of inbound scrap by insisting he'd weigh the loads on weekends. After about 6 months the customer concluded they produced about the same amount of scrap daily but was always under.reported on some werkends. The employee was a drug user and would make out a check for the difference to his wife's employer where she was a bookkeeper and siphoned them off

How I love stand up people. Thank you all who help catch those thieves. Much love & respect from Pennsylvania.

Our local scrap yard mails the check for non ferrous metal after holding it for the 3 business days the state requires. They take our ID for every load regardless of what it is and also take pictures and video in their yard. Kudos to you for your diligence. They don't have the kind of prison I would put thieves in.

Outstanding, thank you!

That's great! Most businesses or most people take the attitude that they aren't the police so it's not their problem. Nice to see someone being responsible.

Thank you for being a stand-up businessman.

I love your responsible business practice!!

Good on you man you saved a lot of people a lot of grief, very pragmatic

Good work keeping us all protected. It pays when we all work together.

This person should get a Good Citizen & Business Man Award.

Awesome 👏👏 and thanks 🙏

Thank you! I have been in business (hvacr/elect/appl/plumbing/comm floor machines, etc…) for over 35yrs & have had 10’s of thousands of dollar’s worth of product- including the vertical structure for a bld, “pillaged” by scrapper’s- most of which I had given scrap to & let them keep the full proceeds. It’s pathetic, they would have made more $ by keeping my trust & get to return regularly & get many load’s of valuable scrap, for free.🙄

great story. Good job.

Good on you mate. Theres too much of these crimes going on and its affecting everyone in many different ways. You're a good egg

Class act. Nice job.

They say, there are no hero's left. He is a great community member watching out for his neighbors.

Well done sir; too far for me to bring some stuff to you, but I would if I lived near you, as you are a credit to humanity and other scrap dealers.

Wonderful video. I hope y'all get a million likes and a million comments (the more comments, the more KZfaq will share your channel).

Outstanding job sir.

Wouldn't have all the problems in life and could have quality of life if we all did the the right thing, as you did and he didn't. Thank you so much!

Beautiful story Thanks for helping catch those crooks

well said, consider yourself and your team bloody hero. Max, Australia

Looks like he Sole it from some other scrap yard trying to turn it in to you. Good for you guys for doing your diligence (if I spelled that right) in getting this guy caught. We need more of you in the world. 2 👍👍

Man that's an honest guy right there very well said man🤘🤘🤘

Ci....stays favored and in the loop....keeps money flowing through da and judges pockets...

Our societies are what we make them. Thumbs up to this fellow. We can't always be the difference but we should always look for ways that make a difference, especially in the first 16 years of an individual's life. Answers are not easy but if we don't protect our way of life we'll lose it.

Great job! If only more places were as vigilant as you, there would be less copper, brass and aluminum theft.

Those were some good moves. Honorable. That's who you want to do business with. Nice to hear the police took a moment to call up, show some respect, and thank you. That's a good police dept. too.

Your real good people. I applaud you.😊

Good for you. An honest business is one I want to do business with.

Thank u for taking care of your community

Good job on ya buddy.. proud of you. To many are just to lazy to do the right thing.. because it requires some effort.